Smoke evacuation device

ABSTRACT

A smoke evacuation device comprises a nozzle for connection to a source of clean air supply, the nozzle being adapted to vent clean air supply in all available directions in space therefrom to provide a volume of space with clean air in the proximity of the nozzle, thereby providing visibility and breathable air to the user. The nozzle is adapted to minimize entrainment of the surrounding smoke into the volume.

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 09/285,013 filed Apr. 1,1999, which claims benefit of Prov. No. 60/083,621 filed Apr. 30, 1998.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various devices to dilute or otherwise protect against smoke have overthe years been proposed and are documented in the patent literature.However, it appears the inventors were not cognizant of the venturieffect which tends to entrain surrounding gas and thereby rendering thevarious proposed inventions non functioning or very inefficient fortheir intended purpose. This is also evidenced in the current technologyin use particularly in aircraft cockpit for smoke evacuation purposeswhere dilution by outside air is the means of attempting to cope withdense continuous smoke in the cockpit window in severe circumstances.Neither of these procedures work to eliminate a continuous dense smokeproblem in the cockpit. Opening the window has little or no effectbecause of the aerodynamics surrounding the fuselage where the windowsare located and the small controllable air nozzles merely entrain thesurrounding smoke and mix it with the airstream thereby having little orno effect during emergencies where the smoke cannot be stopped.

The present invention overcomes these fundamental deficiencies and inaddition provides added advantages as disclosed below.

It is noteworthy to observe that the problem of dense vision impairingsmoke is particularity acute in aircraft and there is a long history ofsmoke accidents where pilots have been unable to see to safely controland land the aircraft. Likewise, although the historical record may notbe as catastrophic as in the aviation industry, a similar problem existson submarines where operators need to be able to see to turn offreactors and otherwise manipulate controls read instruments to control afire/smoke emergency. U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,287 issued to Werjefeltaddresses this safety dilemma and does provide vision for pilots andother operators regardless of smoke density. However, depending on whatcriteria may be applied, the present invention may prove to be asubstantial improvement in that it solves the problem in a quitedifferent way with less cumbersome paraphernalia for the users tocontend with. While it may not provide as guaranteed a protection ofvision as that described in the Werjefelt patent, it may in certainapplications provide a very satisfactory level of safety for the purposeof pilot or other operator vision assurance.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide means by which toevacuate smoke from a desired area for the purpose of obtainingvisibility, which otherwise would be impaired by the presence of densecontinuous smoke in an enclosed space.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a device thatwhen connected to an appropriate supply of breathable air, while alsoproviding visibility, will at the same time provide a respirableenvironment in the area from which smoke is being evacuated by thedevice.

It is still another object of the present invention to replace goggleswhich are used to protect the eyes from the lacrimatory effects of smokeand toxic gases and fumes while at the same time also replacing a gasmask or smoke hood or oxygen mask which is the present means ofprotecting respiration of people who are confined in an enclosed areawhere smoke and lethal fumes may be present in an emergency.

It is another object of the present invention to replace or improve uponrecent technological advances designed to ensure vision of instrumentsand controls for operators in enclosed areas where dense smoke mayotherwise severely or completely inhibit such vision.

The invention can be in the form of a small portable device or it can bebuilt into a structure as a fixed stationary device system. The devicemay incorporate compressed gas supplies, filtering means or externalair/gas supplies as suitable for the protection means for providingprotection against decompression for airline passengers and crew withoutthe need for the conventional “little yellow cup” commonly found on jetliners to provide supplementary oxygen for passengers in the event ofdecompression. Again the invention, regardless of its intended functioni.e for visibility, for protective breathing for eye protection or fordecompression protection can be in the form of a small portableinstallation/system incorporating gaseous generating sources and/orfixed pipes or hoses to provide appropriately pressurized supplies ofair or oxygen.

Moreover, the invention also has applications underwater for the purposeof aiding divers doing underwater work in murky waters, where it can beused to evacuate or displace the murky water to provide clear visibilityfor divers.

In summary, the present invention provides a smoke evacuation devicecomprising a nozzle for connection to a source of clean air supply, thenozzle being adapted to vent clean air supply in all availabledirections in space therefrom to provide a volume of space with cleanair in the proximity of the nozzle, thereby providing visibility andbreathable air to the user. The nozzle is adapted to minimizeentrainment of the surrounding smoke into the volume.

The present invention further provides a protective breathing device,comprising a source of breathable gas; a nozzle for connection to thesource of breathable gas, the nozzle being adapted to vent the gas inall available directions in space therefrom to provide a volume of thebreathable gas and clear visibility in the proximity of the nozzle; andthe nozzle is adapted to minimize entrainment of the surrounding smokeinto the volume.

The present invention still provides a device for providingsupplementary oxygen for protection against decompression, comprising asource of oxygen; and a nozzle for connection to the source of oxygen,the nozzle being adapted to vent the oxygen in all available directionsin space therefrom to provide a volume of oxygen and clear visibility inthe proximity of the nozzle.

The present invention also provides a device for providing visibilityfor divers, comprising a nozzle for connection to a source of clearwater supply, the nozzle being adapted to vent the clear water supply inall available directions in space therefrom to provide a volume of spacewith clear water in the proximity of the nozzle, thereby providingvisibility to the user; and the nozzle is adapted to minimizeentrainment of the surrounding murky water into the volume.

The present invention further provides a device for providing clean airin a desired volume/area free of contaminants, comprising a nozzle forconnection to a source of clean air supply, the nozzle being adapted tovent the clean air supply in all available directions in space therefromto provide a volume/area free of contaminants in the proximity of thenozzle; and the nozzle is adapted to minimize entrainment of thesurrounding contaminated air into the volume/area.

The present invention also provides a device for providing a desired gasin a certain volume/area, comprising a nozzle for connection to a sourceof desired gas, the nozzle being adapted to vent the desired gas in allavailable directions in space therefrom to provide a volume/areacontaining the gas in the proximity of the nozzle; and the nozzle isadapted to minimize entrainment of the surrounding air into thevolume/area.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The essence of the present invention rests in the function of the“nozzle(s)” in that the gaseous flow from the nozzle used to evacuatethe smoke outside of the nozzle is so designed that the flow of gas is“omnidirectional” in all possible directions from the nozzle to thesurrounding space. By providing an omnidirectional flow one is able toovercome the deficiencies of the prior art, namely the entrainment, ofthe surrounding smoke into the airstream which is used for smokeevacuation or smoke displacement purposes. It will be readily apparentto anybody reasonably versed in the art that the omnidirectional flowcan be accomplished by many different means such as, but not limited to,appropriately designed holes, slits, baffles, sintered/porous materialsand/or otherwise permeable materials depending on flow rate, pressuresinvolved of the gas supply etc.

For instance a sintered material may be suitable to use where very highgas supply pressures are used. The sintered material would then functionto release the gas in appropriate directions and at an appropriate rateto accomplish the intended function. Thus this invention specificallyprovides for means to eliminate the long-standing problem of entrainmentof a surrounding gas (smoke) thereby allowing a certain volume within anenclosed area to be free of undesirable gas i.e. toxic smoke, lethalfumes and vision impairing contaminants or in the case of underwaterapplications, murky water. Moreover, the invention can also provide forclean air in contaminated environments, for example in operating rooms,where it is desirable to have a clean volume of air, free of microbesand the like, in the immediate area surrounding an incision. Or,likewise it can be used to provide a clean breathing environment forpersons where the environment is otherwise contaminated by microbes,virus or the like. The invention can also be useful in ordinaryenvironments, for instance where smoking is permitted, but non-smokersin the same area would like to have fresh air surrounding them.

By way of simple description, an “omnidirectional” nozzle placed at theend of a pipe or hose would therefore have a flow in a sphericaldirection inclusive of the direction down towards and along the pipe orhose feeding the omnidirectional nozzle. The flow along the pipe or hoseis critical in order to eliminate entrainment.

In the case where an omnidirectional nozzle is used on a flat surface,for instance an instrument panel in a cockpit, the flow would be that ofhalf a sphere, in other words an omnidirectional nozzle was placed inthe corner of an enclosure i.e. in the corner between two walls andceiling in a room, the flow therefrom would be that of a quarter ofintervening space. Thus, in all these cases, eliminating entrainmentinto the airstream used for smoke evacuation or dilution of thesurrounding gas. At some point entrainment will occur and there will bea limit to the extent of the effective outward flow from the nozzle,after which mixing and entrainment will occur.

Various exemplary configurations are shown in FIGS. 1 through 10.

FIG. 1 shows an omnidirectional nozzle 2 attached to the end of a hoseor pipe 4. The omnidirectional nozzle 2 comprises a number of baffles orvents 6 to conduct the airflow in an omnidirectional way, that is, inall available directions, including downward flow along the pipe,thereby pushing contaminated air outwardly to provide a clean sphere orzone of air around the nozzle. Inflow of clean air is indicated by thearrow 7.

FIG. 2 discloses an omnidirectional nozzle 8 in the shape of a sphereattached to the end of a hose or a pipe 10. The means of outflow fromthe spherical nozzle is by holes 12 or slits formed in the sphere. Thesphere itself may be made of porous or sintered material or the like,thereby providing a multitude of openings to generate the requiredomnidirectional flow. Inflow of clean air is indicated by the arrow 14.

FIG. 3 shows an omnidirectional nozzle placed on an instrument panel 16whereby the flow is generally from the center of a half-sphere 18outwardly in all directions. The omnidirectional airflow displacesparticulate laden air in the vicinity of the nozzle, thereby providingclear area for visibility around the instrument panel.

FIG. 4 discloses an omnidirectional nozzle placed in a corner, such asone formed by two walls 20 and a ceiling 22. From the center of theflow, generally an eighth of a sphere, will constitute theomnidirectional flow in all available directions.

FIG. 5A shows a hand held embodiment 24 of the invention which caninclude an optional oxygen source 26 and an optional light 28 foremergency illumination. The device 24 includes a housing 25 that is heldin an upright position, in essence as a candle would be held, therebyproviding a sphere of clean air in the proximity of the person carryingthe device. Ambient air 30 is filtered through the device by means offilter 32 to provide a clear zone around the nozzle. A fan 34 operatedby batteries 36 forces ambient air through the filter 32. The oxygensource 26 is operably connected to the nozzle and is used for breathing.A switch 37 is operably connected to the batteries 36 to control theoperation of the fan 34 and the light 28.

FIG. 5B discloses the use or deployment of the device 24 described inFIG. 5A, wherein the device is hung in essence like a pendant around theneck of a user to provide a clear zone of visibility and breathable airaround the user's face.

FIG. 5C shows the device 24 of FIG. 5A as it is carried around in theuser's hand near his face to provide a zone of clear air for visibilityand breathable air.

FIG. 6 shows the use of a filter 38 in the nozzle area or in the areawhere clean air is exhausted. The inflow 40 to the filter 38 is takenfrom the outflow 42 from the nozzle, thus diminishing the stress on thefilter by contaminants. The device 44 shows a partial recirculation ofthe air that has been previously filtered by the device. An optionaloxygen source 46 may be provided in case the oxygen in ambientatmosphere is low. A fan 48 powered by batteries 50 draw the airflowthrough the filter and the nozzle. An optional filter may be disposedwithin the housing in series with the airflow to provide additionalfiltering capacity for the device. A light is provided to provideemergency illumination. A switch controls the operation of the fan 48and the light 52.

FIG. 7 shows an arrangement of filters 54 and 56 within the device forextended or efficient use. Part of the filtered air 58 from one filter,such as filter 54, is diverted by a diverter 59 to backflush the otherfilter 56, or vice versa. The rest of the filtered air is allowed toexit through the nozzle.

FIG. 8 is schematic view of the device in a portable hand heldembodiment 62, using an omnidirectional nozzle similar to that of FIG.1. The device 62 comprises a housing 64 in the shape of a trunk, anonmidirectional nozzle 2 secured to one end of the housing 64, a filter66 disposed at the other end of the housing, a fan 68 powered bybatteries 70, a light 72 operably connected to the batteries 70, and aswitch 74 operably connected to the fan 68, light 72 and the batteries70. Ambient airflow is through openings 76 at the bottom of the housing64.

FIG. 9 shows another embodiment 78 of the device of FIG. 8, using adifferent omnidirectional nozzle 8 similar to FIG. 2. The othercomponents of the device 78 are similar to those of the device 62.Airflow through the opening 76.

FIG. 10 discloses an installation using the present invention, where theomnidirectional nozzle 2 or 8 is connected to a pipe 80 that brings inoutside clean air into a room during a smoke event.

While this invention has been described as having preferred design, itis understood that it is capable of further modification, uses and/oradaptations of the invention following in general the principle of theinvention and including such departures from the present disclosure ascome within known or customary practice in the art to which theinvention pertains, and as may be applied to the essential features setforth, and fall within the scope of the invention or the limits of theappended claims.

I claim:
 1. An instrument panel capable of being read even when there issmoke within a room in which the instrument panel is located,comprising: a) an instrument panel including a front face; b) a nozzlefor connection to a source of clear air supply, said nozzle beingconfigured to vent clear air supply outwardly and along said front faceto provide a volume of space with clear air in the proximity of saidnozzle.
 2. The instrument panel of claim 1, wherein said nozzle includesa plurality of vanes.
 3. The instrument panel of claim 1, wherein saidnozzle is made of sintered material.
 4. The instrument panel of claim 1,wherein said nozzle is disposed on said front face.
 5. The instrumentpanel of claim 1, wherein said instrument panel is disposed in anaircraft cockpit.
 6. An instrument panel capable of being read even whenthere is smoke within a room in which the instrument panel is located,comprising: a) an instrument panel including a front face; b) nozzlemeans for venting clear air supply outwardly and along said front faceto provide a volume of space with clear air in the proximity of saidnozzle means.
 7. A method for clearing smoke from an instrument panelfront face, comprising: a) venting through a nozzle clear air supplyoutwardly and along said front face to provide a volume of space withclear air in the proximity of said front face.